Halo
by TaifuuLily
Summary: He was the son of a demon. She had the blood of a devil flowing through her veins. The world has notions about how each should be dealt with. Will both be able to fight their destiny? AcexOC.- Rewritten


Halo

Chapter 1: Grenade

She sat her large wooden chair, hovering over a large book quietly reading as the warm rays of daylight swept into her small cabin. She rubbed her left eye before yawning and looking over at the candle that sat in front of her, barely aflame and casting a warm glow onto her desk. A large pool of white wax had oozed onto the sides of the candleholder and onto her desk but the faint ray of light still illuminated the room.

She quietly deliberated with herself about replacing the candle, but instead she lazily moved the candle away from her desk and waited for the sunlight to pour inside.

She yawned, again.

Slowly, her gaze shifted over towards the bed across the room that was echoing for her to lie in its embrace so it could wash away the tiredness, but instead she opened her bottom desk drawer and withdrew a map. She gazed at the map, noticing the soft yellowish tinge that it now held compared to when she first retrieved the map. The edges had become tattered, as she had journeyed across the ocean.

She carefully opened the map while effortlessly clearing enough room on her desk for the map to lie comfortably on its back. She only accomplished this by shoving the books off her desk onto the floor without any regard.

She straightened the wrinkles from the map, observing the last entry she had drawn upon the surface of the map, connecting two islands - Vera and Tequila Wolf.

She stared at the map, distastefully while tapping her fingers on the desk. It had been more than three weeks and she still couldn't figure out the connection the two islands held. Tequila Wolf was a barren snow island without many residents whereas Vera was a flourishing monarchy under the rule of the Alu Dhani family. The two islands had nothing in common and didn't possess the same traits as the other clues she had found and the inability to figure out the link between the two started to aggravate the girl. She let out an exasperated sigh and leaned back against her chair, looking up at the ceiling.

There were no more leads available and she was stuck, until she could figure out the mystery of the two islands. Stuck for who knows how long but that would be impossible as she had left both islands away and was far from them now. She started to consider if the information she had received was false but it had come from a reliable source- it couldn't be wrong. She silently cursed thinking back to the island that she had the most hopes of finding a concrete lead but the baka-queen had disappeared a long time ago. Life was just too cruel sometimes.

BANG~ Bang~.

The noise brought the confused and aggravated girl out of her circling thoughts.

'What, now?' she thought as she quickly rolled up the map and put it back into the bottom desk drawer before getting up from her chair and heading towards the door.

"Lily, get your butt out of this room right, now" Lily heard after she opened the door.

"Ugh… If I knew it was you, I wouldn't have opened the door," Lily lazily grunted out while the blonde shot her a death glare.

"You know, I don't particularly care for you either…"

"What tests do you need done on the samples?" Lily interjected before the gorgeous blonde could start a never-ending rant.

"There are no samples-"the blonde began.

"So... why are you here then, Claire?" Lily questioned while leaning against the doorframe and began to swirl her pinky finger in her ear, causing the older woman to cringe.

"You spoiled gaki, let me finish talking for once," Claire exclaimed, " Just hurry up, your training was supposed to commence two days ago. Anne is majorly pissed and we can't be waiting at your door for hours while you sit in there you, hikikomori".

Lily continued picking at her ear only catching a few words Claire had spewed at her.

"What do you mean training?" she asked taking her finger out of ear and wiping it on her shirt, still very uninterested in the conversation that was taking place.

"You're the ships new doctor in training, and you—"

"I don't remember anything of that sort," Lily interjected once again.

Claire let out an aggravated sigh, before poking Lily in the forehead with her index finger causing Lily's head to bob back and forth slowly. However, Lily still held a blank on her face as the nurse gave her a stern look.

"Maybe next time, you shouldn't get drunk before spewing nonsense from your mouth"

"Since I was drunk it shouldn't count, right?" Lily spoke confidently before trying to push the door to a close and return to her humble abode. However, Claire pushed the door back so the onyx –eyed girl could not fulfill her task.

"FINE! I guess I have no choice then. I'll send Jozu to your cabin and you can discuss the reasons why you won't be joining us in the infirmary," Claire chided while turning her back on the door and began walking towards the infirmary.

Lily froze.

At this point she had two choices, she could either go to the infirmary, and settle down into her new role as the ship's doctor in training or she could face Jozu. She absolutely knew what she had to do.

"Clllllaaaaairrrreeee, wait for me!" Lily screamed as she ran out of door after the blonde. She could deal with everyone but Jozu and his unusual stern speeches she couldn't do no matter what. And the only way of winning an argument against him was in a battle of strength, and Lily knew she wasn't going to win against 'the Diamond Jozu, third division commander of the whitebeard pirates' even if lady luck was on her side. She had already learned her lesson twice, the first time breaking an arm and the second more than half of her ribs. Jozu wouldn't go easy on any one.

Lily ran through the wooden hallway of the ship bypassing many crewmembers she didn't recognize and many who gave a slight nod of acknowledgement.

"Claire, can't you walk like a normal person?" Lily shouted at the blonde who was now within hearing distance.

"Who said I wasn't normal?" Claire responded calmly.

"I would say it's you who isn't normal with those stubby legs of yours. Are you sure you aren't related to those magical gnomes?" Claire continued mockingly.

Lily grumbled but continued following the older woman further into the bowels of the ship.

"I don't really understand you sometimes, you know!" Claire stated, "Maybe, you should stop the cool and unbothered act, and act like your age instead".

Lily mumbled to herself as if that was the only explanation needed.

She tried to piece together the memory of how she ended up in the mess but all she could remember was getting drunk and after that it was a blank. She vaguely remembered an arm-wrestling contest against Marco and somehow she had now become the ships new doctor in training. She wasn't sure if this new revelation was the truth or just a sick joke but she was determined to get out of it as soon as she could. But it was a matter of pride at this point that she reluctantly followed the older woman.

Lily continued to walk through the hall ignoring Claire who had started to make a list of the reasons why she found the younger girl's personality was distasteful and bothersome. That was one thing Lily liked about Claire, she would openly say how she felt without a regard of how the other person might feel. Some people might have thought that to be negative aspect but Lily thought that the woman had courage to speak her mind, which was a nice relief from many of the back talking that some of the other pirates- yes pirates resorted to.

Lily came to a complete stop in front of the infirmary. She could smell the faint scent of coffee and overly used disinfectant in the air that always lingered around the part of the ship she currently stood. And those happened to be the two things she disliked—coffee was too bitter for her taste buds and the smell of disinfectant made her feel dizzy.

She took a large breath of air before pushing the doors open and walking inside with Claire by her side.

A group of nurses surrounded one of the beds monitoring the vitals and the conditions of a patient she couldn't recognize. She could see only a few glimpses of his face, as the nurses were busy around him conducting tests with an electrocardiogram.

"Blahahahahahalb, so they've finally roped ye in," the laughter filled voice echoed from the other side of the room. Lily turned around and spotted the familiar man sitting on the bed amused.

"Against my will, "Lily simply stated as she sat on the edge of the bed still looking towards the nurses who were discussing all possible diagnoses for the patient.

"Ye should have stayed for another day been insistent on not comin', I had some money ridin' on how long ye would last," Blamenco chuckled.

Lily didn't utter a reply and silently watched as a spectator to the scene-taking place in front of her eyes as the patient had now started to profusely bleed from his mouth. Lily quickly looked away from the scene as her hands started to shake and she started to feel a bout of nausea initiate.

"Ye gone white as a whistle" Blamenco stated observing as the color Lily's face drained from her already pale looking face.

"Do you have indigestion, again?" Lily questioned meekly trying to change the direction of the conversation while trying to calm herself down.

"Blahahahahahalb, ye really are psychic," Blamenco sniggered as he held his bulbous belly trying to contain his laughter. Lily was certain the nurses had warned Blamenco about his boisterous laughter disturbing the other patient as he know held his stomach the same way trying to smother his laughter as he did when the Whitebeard Pirates were discussing some issue of immense importance, only to be disrupted by the snickering of the sixth division commander. These warnings on the sixth division commander were a regular sanction and every one on the ship had understood when Blamenco held his belly, it was "to stop the laughing creatures" as he had so often stated if anyone asked. Many of the crewmen had debated whether the pirate hoarder had actually swallowed some pixies into his infernal belly that could hide any object or whether it was just a fib that the commander was prone on telling. Still no one had been able to solve the mystery.

"Or you're just very predictable," Lily muttered.

"If you weren't a pack rat maybe you wouldn't have this problem every week," she continued as she starred at the floor trying to keep her eyes off the patient that was spouting blood from his mouth.

Blamenco answered her with another muffled burst of laughter.

"Oi Oi—what does being a pack rat have to do with having indigestion?" Blamenco investigated as though he didn't understand her remark fully.

"Most people keep things in their house or room, but you happen to store everything in your body. That devil fruit and you are just trouble." She remarked once again while slowly raising her head to look towards the nurses crowding the critically ill patient.

"Who is he, anyways?" Lily asked Blamenco nudging her head towards the direction of the patient the nurses were frantically waiting upon.

"Thats, Hank! Nice guys but bleedin' alot since yesterday." Blamenco whispered quietly as though the information was top secret.

"Hmm—I guess ye won't recognize him, cause he joined—well ye can say joined durin' yer one year stint away from us," He continued looking turning his attention towards Hank, "sure put up a fight that one."

"LILY. GET YOUR BUTT OVER HER NOW,"

Lily cringed at the words. Only a few minutes ago, she had been totally relieved that the nurses had forgotten about her presence in the midst of the chaos that had ensued over Han, but now much to Lily's horror, Anne, the head nurse, had spotted her sitting with Blamenco having a leisurely chat.

"I'm with a patient, Anne" Lily said in a matter of factly way.

"I know, exactly what you two are doing. Blamenco is minor business and you get your ass over here now!" Lily heard the sharp voice shriek a few decibels higher than before.

Lily grumbled before reluctantly walking towards the tirade of nurses still huddling around Hank as though it was a life and death situation-, which was exactly what it, was. She would have naturally protested or been adamant about the fact that she was currently treating Blamenco and could not stray from her duty of treating a patient but she had no energy to protest. She hadn't slept for the past 36 hours and now her body and mind were giving in. She regretted not wrapping herself in the warm blankets in the confines of her room this morning. If she had listened to her body, she wouldn't have been in the situation with the nurses walking towards a man covered in blood—warm, oozy, red blood. Today was a bad day and it was only going to keep getting worse, she could feel it and her impending doom approach.

"The patient has been exhibiting..." Lily heard Anne's voice start but she couldn't hear the rest as Lily's eyes fell upon Hank past the crowd. She felt the jolt of heat start to rise again as the veil of darkness that previously threatened her finally took over and she felt to the ground with a loud thump.

* * *

"Oi- Have you seen, Lil," Marco questioned one of the crewmembers as he walked past Lily's empty room.

"Heard she fainted in the infirmary," Izo stated while coming up behind Marco.

Marco chuckled at the new information that had just passed through his ears. It was quite refreshing to hear the pint-sized brat that wasn't even scared of death still had some fears she had to conquer. It made him happy, that at least she was still had human emotions

The two commanders walked in unison together towards the infirmary discussing the details of the fourth and second divisions impending arrival, instead of conversing about the fainting spell the young doctor in training had experienced.

"Jozu received confirmation of the second and fourth division arriving tonight," Izo informed Marco.

"They sure have an earful coming there way, I'm assuming" Izou stated as Marco grumbled thinking about the disciplining he would have to enact on the two division commanders for disobeying orders. Instead of resolving the situation, the two had caused a full out war on Ruluka.

Marco sighed while shaking his head. He had to remember never again to allow the two divisions to go on an expedition together again; they always caused more trouble when the two were together.

"I don't know what to do with those two, anymore" Marco confessed to the sixteenth division commander, who simply chuckled at the blatant declaration of the first division commander.

"But, there's another one that is almost as worse as them," Marco continued.

"Lily?" Izo half questioned and confirmed at the same time.

"The one and only," Marco said as he smiled

"That girl is one of the biggest pain's in the neck ever," Marco said with a twinge of scorn, remembering the current problem he had to take care of now. No matter, how much he tried to persuade or order her, she would not give up her rights to the room she was currently occupying.

Izo chuckled and began, "I see, she's still as stubborn as ever," recalling the infamous debate, he had overheard some of the members talking about a few days ago. Apparently, Lily had refuted all of Marco's ideas and his orders as the first division commander, and had instead insisted that he apologize to her.

"But, you have to admit the girl has spunk," Izo finished as the two commanders continued walking towards the infirmary and every so often nodding towards any crew member that walked past them who greeted the two.

"Too much if you ask me," Marco said as he pushed the door to the infirmary open and walked inside with Izo by his side.

As Marco scanned the room, he spotted Blamenco on a bed on the opposite end of the room removing items from his devil-fruit pockets and deliberating which items were necessary and essential to keep with him at all times. Near Blamenco, a nurse was monitoring Hank, who was bandaged up like a mummy and the only visible sign that had allowed Marco to recognize his fellow crewmember was the cowboy hat resting on his side table-Hanks signature hat. The spade pirates sure were obsessed with cowboys.

Izo greeted Yalda, the ebony haired nurse, stationed at Hanks bed, while Marco quickly scanned the room for the new doctor in training. However, his eyes failed to locate her on any of the small white beds in the medical ward. Marco sighed while moving his hand through his hair, while walking towards Izo and Yalda.

"Marco-san, Is something wrong" Yalda questioned in an affectionate voice while she batted her long lashes.

Marco sighed once again, while rubbing the back of his neck, before he began, "Came lookin' for Lily, but she's not here"

"What do you mean? She's in the bed near the in charge desk," Yalda said while pointing towards the bed on the opposite end of the room.

"No one is there," Izo spoke while chuckling.

"…. -," Yalda quickly did a double take throughout the room feeling stressed over the disappearance of a patient. Anne was going to kill her if she found out a patient had disappeared on her watch. Yes, she was dead meat for sure.

A look of sheer desperation crossed the nurse's face as she turned to Marco and Izo in her moment of plight but the two were still looking at the empty bed, and quietly conversing with each other.

"Will you two stop that incessant whispering and help me?" Yalda screamed almost on the verge of tears imagining what Anne would do to her if Lily were not in that bed by the time Anne came back from Oyaji's daily exams with the other nurses.

"Anne is going to kill me!" she revealed with an exasperated sigh.

"Don't worry, you won't die on my watch," Marco winked at the nurse, before walking over to the bed Yalda had pointed at a few minutes ago. He chuckled at the fear Anne created in the other nurses. She could give the chief warden of Impel Down a run for his money, if she had sought work with the Marines. Since, Anne had become the head nurse, the infirmary had become much more efficient and dedicated. The woman ruled with an iron fist.

Marco lazily walked to the bed near the in charge desk, crouched and lifted the sheets that were draping on the side of the bed revealing the new doctor in training lying flat on the floor motionless.

"Oi- Oi, Quit pretending to be asleep," Marco said while poking her cheek with his index finger.

Lily opened her eyes only to shoot a murderous glare towards the first division commander who had the uncanny ability to get under her skin. Marco had built a repertoire as being an elite pirate in the great age of piracy that prompted the respect of many pirates and the scorn of the Marine. Even, she respected Marco and believed that he was a great guy but under some situations all she could wish for was the ability to kick his ass but she knew that was impossible for her. After all, he was the first division commander of the whitebeard pirates- the strongest man in the world's right hand man; she didn't stand a chance if it was a serious fight. But knowing Marco's playful nature he would have taken the beating and then thrown a witty comment at her that would have caused her to become even angrier.

"Is there anything you want, Marco?" Lily questioned still lying on the floor.

"Yes, there is in fact!" Marco proceeded to say but before he could continue, Lily rolled over the other side so she was not under the bed anymore. She quickly shot up and made a run towards the door as Marco blinked profusely still in the crouching position he was a second ago.

Marco rubbed the back of his neck before standing up; she really was a pain in the neck.

Before heading out the door, Marco signed Lily's chart to give his approval for discharging her from the infirmary so Yalda would not have to suffer the wrath of Anne. Marco knew that the anger would be turned on him now since Anne had vehemently told Marco to stay out of any issues that related to the infirmary. He was not all allowed to trapeze his way in and discharge any patient under any circumstance whatsoever. His ears could still remember the pain from last time.

Marco quickly ran after the ebony haired girl who had escaped him once again when he had thought he had her cornered. He quickly caught up to her just as she was ran into her room and tried to close the door in his face but before Lily could do that Marco pushed the door open.

"God, Quit being such a stalker," Lily spoke as she got up from the floor rubbing her behind since the impact had caused her to fall on her behind.

"Who in their right mind would stalk you?" Marco said as he folded his arms across his chest.

Lily mumbled an inaudible response and grumbled before walking over to her desk. She stepped over books, empty bottles of grog and piles of clothing that littered the floor as Marco quietly observed.

"I've already been telling you for over a week now," Marco said calmly before continuing, " Move back into the Nurses quarters before tonight."

"Why should I?" she asked as she opened her desk drawer and retrieved several test tubes.

"I've already told you several times, we have a new second division commander and this happens to be his room that you-"

"You mean my room that you gave away to someone else without my permission" Lily cut Marco before he could continue.

"This quarter has always belonged to the second division commander," Marco spoke as his plopped down on her bed, only to feel a soft squishy sound from under him.

"What was that?" Marco asked as his face paled and Lily shot him a glare.

"I was saving that pudding for later before your ass ate it," Lily remarked in disappointment and a joist of anger. She had smuggled the large bowl pudding stealthy away from the kitchen late last night but now all her effort had gone to waste. She had needed to indulge herself in something but then she discovered last night that her wine cabinet had been cleaned out and replaced with sake. Montrachet, Chateau Margaux, Chateau Mouton Rothschild, Chateau Pavie, Cabernet Sauvignon had all gone missing without a single trace and she had been boiling with anger. She had been looking forward to relaxing for a while, but it had been all ruined—her plan and her happy mood. Instead of eating the pudding, she had gone back to reading "the Cannon of Medicine" written by Avicenna, which the doctor, Nasr, had given to her to read. She hadn't intended on reading to book at first but book seemed interesting. Avicenna, the author, was proclaimed as a brilliant physician across the East Blue and the man had enough influence with his brilliance to influence the field of science in a positive manner. As she started reading, she had forgotten about the pudding sitting in her bed and the wine bottles that she was intending to be thoroughly compensated for later by the idiotic second division commander who had laid his hands on her property.

Marco shot up from the bed as the cool wet feeling penetrated his pants. Lily giggled as Marco stood with his feet totally apart trying to not let the fabric touch his skin.

"Fuck- can't you clean up after yourself?" he asked while trying to twist around to inspect the damage that an innocent move had caused.

"I've had enough! Last time it was a rotten egg I stepped on and I couldn't get the smell off me for three days!" He said recalling the incident and how Vista and the other commanders had poked fun of him.

' "The phoenix lays rotten eggs", "Man, you stink! Must be from laying that egg" ' and the list of mockery went on and on. He hadn't thought anything of the small incident but the smell was ubiquitous, and his life was beginning be that of a miser. He had smelled as bad as the time Atmos had been sprayed by a skunk. And then a twisted story of him laying an egg in the crow's nest had somehow started going around the ship, and he was positive that the devil herself had initiated it. The pheniox jokes were bad enough already but she had added oil to the fire by instigating the whole preposterous idea. He did not know how she was going to twist this incident now, but he was too horrified to even think about it.

"I've had enough! You have to move to the nurses quarters tonight or you can share this blasted room, I don't care anymore!" Marco shouted at the girl who was trying to hold back her laughter.

Marco had turned his back to her and proceeded to walk out the room as she burst out in laughter.

"And clean up this mess, it smells like a pigsty in here," he said shooting her an angry look, " and if you twist this somehow, YOU ARE SO DEAD!"

"Oi- Marco" Lily said totally ignoring his treat and with a smirk on her face began "Don't shit your pants-". Marco gritted his teeth and walked out the room slamming the door shut.

* * *

Lily awoke from her desk half an hour later rubbing her eyes before proceeding to wipe the drool off from the side of her face. She had fallen asleep while waiting for the bacteria cultures to show some reaction to the dye strain she had inserted but to no avail, the samples still held the same murky blue color as before. Now she was at wits end, no matter which technique she tried the bacteria strain could not be identified.

'It probably wouldn't do any good now even if I can identify it," she said to herself.

Lily sighed before getting up from her chair and proceeding to the washroom. She needed to shower— her scalp felt itchy and her hair had gotten oiler than before.

Lily quickly grabbed a shirt and pair of shorts that were strewn on the ground, and headed to the bathroom connected to her room.

The Moby Dick was a fascinating ship and it had been intricately designed by one of the best shipwrights of the world. The ship still held a brilliance that many of the new ships could not match, but for some odd reason only one room had its own private bathroom. And that was the room that she was currently housed in. To Lily it was mysterious that only this room and the Captain's Quarters had their own bathroom. She had asked Thatch about the mystery once but apparently the fourth division commander had assumed that it was a flaw in the ships design somehow but she didn't believe the shipwright could have made a lazy mistake. But she felt blessed that the so-called flaw had been made. The thought of even going to the woman's showers made her cringe for some reason. It wasn't that she hated the nurses, but the thought of sharing a bathroom and shower made her cringe.

She quickly took a shower and wrapped a towel around her self before proceeding to put on the clothes she had quickly grabbed. Lily proceeded to quickly wear the pair of flip flops that she found lying on ground near the door and walked out the door leaving the room as messy as it was the day before. She brushed her fingers through her long black hair and quickly tied her hair as she walked in the ships corridors walking towards the main deck.

The sounds of the trumpeting music and the laughter pierced through Lily's ears as she quietly walked onto the deck. It had been a while since she last saw the ship decorated with lanterns and had heard the festive noise that pervaded the ship.

She could see Haruta and Izo dancing with many of the crewmembers, as Vista played on his guitar, while Namur and Blenheim were busy with (yet another) arm wrestling contest. Many of the crewmembers looked over both of the commanders' contest while making bets and trying their lucky at winning the enticing stash of money.

Lily quickly scanned the area looking for Marco but she didn't see him. Instead, she walked to one of the large tables and picked of a bottle of sake before walking over the ships railings. As always she tried to climb on top of the railing but lacked momentum to pull herself up. So she climbed on top of a crate to boost herself up on to the railing.

Lily quickly opened the bottle and took a large gulp, before looking out into the horizon. The sky was covered with an array of beautiful colours as the sun set. The sunset had never amazed her until she had set foot on the small boat three years ago, but at that moment she had felt liberated-.

"You might fall again," a voice broke her out of her thoughts.

Lily continued looking out towards the ocean, recognizing the voice without turning around.

"I won't," she quietly whispered before putting the bottle to her mouth again.

"That's what you said last time too," Thatch remarked, " and this time I'm not going to pull you out."

Lily turned her head to the side and flashed a wide grin to the older man, " Don't worry, I won't ask you to."

"Pfftt, Still as cheeky as ever" Thatch said as her rested his arms on the railing and leaned his weight over it.

"It's good to have you back! And here I thought we'd never see you again," She could read the lines in between what Thatch was saying.

' Why didn't you come back sooner? We were worried about you'.

She remained quiet; unable to make a remark to the 'welcome' Thatch had given her. She wasn't able to comprehend how to act to the underlying feelings that Thatch had conveyed to her. She wasn't used to having someone worried about her—well except for one other person.

Both, the doctor in training and the fourth division commander remained silent until the large thunderous roar of laughter emitted by the ships Captain drew their attention back to the festivities.

"…I would have…" she started but stopped again feeling awkward and flustered but before she could continue Thatch patted her back and flashed her a smile.

"I know! Lets go celebrate and if possible light Marco's tail on fire," Lily accidently let a giggle escape and steadily jumped off the railing.

"Ha—Wouldn't you know it," Thatch said as he began walking towards the center of the party with Lily trailing closely behind him.

"Hmm?" She said looking up at the older man

"The rumours aren't true," He said with a mocking tone in his voice.

"What rumours?"

"You aren't a ghost or banshee," Thatch said while chuckling as she looked at him quizzically and half shocked by his comment.

"The rumours among some of the new members, is that a ghost/banshee has taken over one of the division commanders cabins."

"Really, now?" Lily said relishing with the new piece of information Thatch had relayed.

" So whose room did you take over?" Thatch asked.

"I didn't take over anyone's room- I took back my room." The room talk was beginning to annoy her and the tone clearly revealed her feelings about the situation. And she only saw Thatch shoot the same smile at her as he always did.

"Well, lets get on and party already! We have lots to celebrate," Thatch said as he grabbed her arm and pulled her after him. Lily looked around her swiftly taking in the sight of the happy crewmembers, there were many that she didn't recognize and for an instant she thought she saw an orange cowboy hat. The thought of him made her grimace; statistically speaking the chances of running into him were less than 1% on the wide ocean. And as far as she remembered he was the captain of his own crew.

"There are a lot of new people here," Lily said loudly enough for Thatch to hear.

"Oh—them… they aren't really new. We took them in over a year ago, about a month or so after you disappeared," Thatch said as he manoeuvred through the dancing crewmembers. The two moved against the crowd and walked up to the group that were sitting at one of the large tables full of food and sake. Lily and Thatch took a seat at the table in between, Haruta and Izo. She spotted Marco, Blenheim, Curiel, Kingdew and Rakuyo sitting a few seats down but past the four large men (Blenheim, Curiel, Kingdew and Rakuyo), she could hardly see.

"The Spade Pirates," Thatch said and Lily froze, trying to understand what he meant.

'_No—It's not possible. There is less than a one percent chance of that. Statistically it is impossible. I haven't run into him in the two years since… the possibility of him being on this ship is highly unlikely.'_

She had sat at the table deliberating against herself, with her eyes glazed over. She was too preoccupied to hear the words that Thatch spoke or the music that still continued in the background. Nor did she notice Anne and Whitebeard deliberate against each other over the sake he was insisting on drinking—and neither did she notice the freckled face that now stared at her with a determined look on his face. Lily was only brought back into reality as she felt someone grab her wrist and pull her behind him.

* * *

It's been a long time since I've been back but I've been writing this version of Halo for a while. There were a lot of elements that caused me to write the story again but the main reason was because of Lily. I've had a story line in my head for a while and Lily seemed too bland too be in many of the situations I had imagined for her to develop and end up with the ending that I have planned for her.

I know this first chapter might be somewhat boring but it really helps to understand some of the relationships Lily has with the crew.

The chapters from now one will come a lot sooner I'm hoping,..

But reviews about the writing style would really be appreciated.

XOXO


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